At age 5, he was telling his mother that all he wanted to do was cook and ski. In the mind of a child, each goal seems oversimplified. Ideas like this usually come and go as a child grows and interests wax and wane. This isn’t the case for Caine. His dreams at age 5 were the same as his goals 19 years later. Both of which have been realized. One is now a hobby; the other, a career.

Caine is not a Winsted native, but he did spend many of his formative years in the Laurel City. The Gilbert School graduate recently made good as the Head Sous Chef at Twelve Restaurant in Denver, and was one of Zagat’s 30 Under 30 announced in July.

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Twelve closed earlier this month to make way for the owner to open a ramen bar nearby, but Caine landed on his feet, and will man the kitchen as a chef at Fruition Restaurant, also in Denver.

The young man’s success story is as simple and arrow-straight as his initial goals. It all comes down to work ethic. He’s been in and around kitchens his entire life, long before he was old enough to cook in a professional capacity.

Early on, Caine’s family was always moving. His father was in the U.S. Navy. Caine, his parents and sister would uproot every few years. Caine was born in Puerto Rico but moved to Rhode Island, and then Italy, all before his fifth birthday.

As a child in Italy, his dual passions began to take shape. In 1994, at 4 years old, he put on skis for the first time in Bavaria, Germany. His mother, Jacky Heerz, reflects fondly on these trips, where she and her husband would pack up the children at 2 a.m. and arrive by 2 p.m. for a day of skiing.

Eating out, she said, was another story. Caine, still only 5, was impatient waiting for meals. He would wander into the kitchens of the three restaurants that his family frequented and the chefs there would let him sit on a stool and watch.

“We would order our drinks and order our food and he went in the kitchen,” Heerz said. “And he would just sit there. He was fascinated.”

At age 6, he would lock himself in the kitchen at home and “invent” meals to share with the family. His father was a good cook in his own right, and Caine would aid him in preparing the night’s meal while Heerz was at work. Caine would go with his father to fish markets, vegetable stands and butcher shops, enamored with every part of the process.

“He just loved it all,” Heerz said.

At the turn of the millennium, Caine was 10 years old. He and his mother returned to the United States and settled in Winsted. Heerz worked full-time in the banking industry and part-time as a server at Monaco’s Ristorante, a family-owned restaurant on Main Street, which is still in business.

Just 10 years old, Caine approached the owner and asked if he could work with his mother. She declined, according to Heerz, and told Caine that in America people have to wait until they are 16 to work. The day he turned 16, Caine was back at Monaco’s and told the owner he was ready to start work. He was hired on the spot.

“After school when most kids are at home playing video games he was watching food channels,” Heerz said. “He would watch food channels and then call me and say ‘can you pick this up or that up’ on the way home.”

Caine’s entire adolescence was spent in the Laurel City. He attended St. Anthony School and the Gilbert School, graduating in 2008.

“He had a great experience,” Heerz said. “He had a lot of people that were really supporting him and on his side. We had a great experience with both St. Anthony’s and Gilbert.”

For college, Caine attended Johnson & Wales in Providence, Rhode Island and occasionally visited the destination he had in mind to live after graduation: Denver, Colorado. When he secured a job in the city of Denver under owner and executive chef Jeff Osaka, the plan was set. He moved to Denver in January 2013. If his goals were to do nothing but ski and cook, Caine had found the right place. Working at Twelve in Denver, he could ski during the day and work the kitchen at night. Both of his childhood dreams had come to fruition.

Under Osaka, Caine worked as Head Chef until the restaurant closed earlier this month. Caine’s work there earned him a spot amongst the list of Zagat’s “30 Under 30.” With Osaka looking to move and open a ramen bar nearby, Caine remained a step ahead and found a job at Fruition Restaurant. Fruition, also located in Denver, touts a farm to table menu.

Heerz repeatedly mentioned her son’s work ethic as a key reason why he’s been so successful at such a young age. From day one, Caine has known what he wanted and strode confidently straight down that path. This kind of clarity and dedication, from childhood on, is rare.

“He just has a very, very strong work ethic and he’s very focused,” Heerz said. “It was a really wonderful experience to watch him evolve from this four or five year who said all I want to do is cook and ski and he’s actually doing it.”

From here, Caine has his sights set on another goal. Heerz said her son is now looking for a backer, a venture capitalist of some sort to aid him in starting his own restaurant.

The dream he had as a boy has been realized. Now Caine is on to the next one.